Here is something that has been in the news the last few days. A British Armysoldier by the name of Corporal Craig Harrison, of the Household Cavalry, set anew record for the longest shot in combat. Twice. Cpl. Harrison fired two shotsat Taliban machine gunners in Afghanistan.

They were confirmed via GPS to be 8,120 feet from Cpl. Harrison's position.That is 1.54 miles. More than a mile and a half. To make it even moreastounding, the range was almost 3,000 feet beyond what is considered theeffective range of the weapon. At that range the bullet takes around 3 secondsto reach the target.

The previous record was set in 2002 for a sniper kill at 7,972ft. That shot wasmade by Canadian Corporal Rob Furlong, of Princess Patricia's Canadian LightInfantry, who was using a .50BMG McMillan TAC-50 rifle.

Harrison accomplished this feat with the above pictured weapon, a L115A3 rifle.The weapon is manufactured by Accuracy International in Britain and ischambered in the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge. This is significant because theprevious two shots that held the world record were with weapons chambered forthe .50 BMG. The .338 is a cartridge designed for accuracy and power beyond therange of the older 7.62mm rifles. It has a much flatter trajectory, which makesthe complex trigonometry problem of finding the right arc to lob the bulletonto the target much easier. It is one of several other "lighter"rifle rounds like the .300 Win Mag., .416 Barrett, and .408 CheyTac that havebeen designed with extreme long range shooting in mind. Of special importanceis the velocity past 1000 meters, the shape of its trajectory and how long thecartridges stay supersonic.

The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare .338 is a bolt action, detachablemagazine-fed, precision rifle. The rifle is about 15 pounds, unloaded andwithout optics. It can mount a variety of telescopic sights, laser designators,and night vision or thermal sights. In British service, it usually mounts aS&B 5-25x56mm day scope. The extra-large objective lens size of 56mmgathers a lot of light, making shots possible in the dawn, dusk, or into theshadows. The L115A3 can also mount a suppressor, helping to reduce the reportflash and dust from the powerful rifle. The barrel is free floated forincreased accuracy and is fluted for strength and cooling without excessive weight.

You don't get all that performance cheap though. News reports put the rifle ataround $25,000. But if you put it in the right hands and it can hit a sizedtarget from 4500 feet. More importantly, even at extreme range, the bulletretains its power, hitting with more force than a .44 Magnum at 25 feet.

It was just unlucky for the Taliban that conditions were so good and we couldsee them so clearly. We saw two insurgents running through its courtyard, onein a black dishdasha, and one in green. They came forward carrying a PKMmachine gun, set it up and opened fire on the commanders wagon. The first roundhit a machine gunner in the stomach and killed him outright. He went straightdown and didn't move. The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as mysecond shot hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead."

Cpl. Harrison had a memorable tour of duty, making the two impossible shots,having a bullet deflect off his helmet, and surviving an IED blast that brokeboth of his arms. He is reportedly healing well, and has returned to duty.